TASCAM 234 being a naughty boy

[gecko zzed]

Some years ago I was given a Tascam 234 from an acquaintance who had inherited it from somewhere, did not know how to use it and indeed had no use for it.

As it happened, nor did I. So it just sat here, doing nothing.

However, in the corvid 19-enforced holiday, I've got some time on my hands and I figured I would fire it up and see what's what. I do have a bunch of cassettes I recorded in the eighties and nineties on a 4-track Yamaha MT3X, which I figured I might salvage.

I gave it a bit of a clean-up and turned it on, and it all lit up as it should.

I put in a tape, and the transport mechanisms worked . . . sort off.

So it will play happily, fast forward and rewind ok.

Then I turn it off and on again, and it doesn't want to play or rewind, but will still fast forward.

Or it will rewind, but get slower and slower.

Or it will play, then stop.

So I'm not quite sure what to make of that erratic behaviour.



As a postscript, I also found at the back of a drawer an old Toshiba EM220 microphone that I used at that time. I popped a new battery in, and, having a 6.5mm plug, it worked with the Tascam just fine. I could go Retro-Analog if I wanted.

 

[gecko zzed]

I think I may have fixed the problem.

On opening it up I was able to see the three motors behind the cassette bay. One drives the capstan, another does something indeterminate, but it may have something to do with tensioning, while the third, between those two, is the one responsible for the tape transport. It was this motor that need attention, in that its drive wasn't making proper contact, and was slipping. So sometimes it would grip and play properly, and at other times it wouldn't. By getting in there with alcohol and a swab, I managed to clean up the friction wheels. I then reseated the motor, and now all seems to be good.

 

[bachelorb]

I think it’s those friction wheels GZ..... I had to replace both of mine on my 234. As I recall it was a little bit of a pain!! Mine were leaving black on everything and deteriorating pretty quick. If you have to replace em and need some help, I think there is a pretty good tutorial on line (....or at least there was 4 years ago.....)

Brad

 

[gecko zzed]

Yes . . . I think the friction wheels are the problem, and while for the moment they are reasonably well-behaved, I think I will have to replace them. And I'm not looking forward to it!

 

[Hammerstone]

(Long time no post, hi all!)

I had to do that for my 244 and it made all the difference and were easy to install, but that was 6-7 years ago I think and it would seem that I need to do it again! I see the belts are available on the 'bay right now so it's a good time to do it. The only problem with the replacement belts I have though, is wondering if these newly-manufactured, or NOS parts? They don't seem to be lasting...

 

[gecko zzed]

The belts themselves seem to be in good shape, and show no signs of the sticky deterioration I've seen on some Youtube videos on replacing them. The friction wheels . . . well they seem to be really hard to get toon the 234, so I'm not looking forward to that.